23. Stampede (Patreon)

Levi sat up, gasping a breath. The heavy drum of feet pounded the dirt all around him, jostling him where he sat, so many feet that they seemed to strike every piece of ground all around him, so many thick equestrian legs that the sky churned on the far side of their seething might. He caught sight of his backpack and threw himself over it, struggling to process what was going on. Wide-eyed, he took in the world.

What…where…

A thousand tree-trunk-like legs beat down all around him. Enormous horse-like monsters as large as elephants stampeded past, leaping over him. Snaggletoothed mouths foamed, eyes wild with hunger and madness. Brown, blond, grey and dappled, their coats glistening, their chests heaving, sharp hooves flashing.

Hugging his backpack tight, Levi plopped back down onto his back. Horses won’t step on prone bodies. Most of the time. If I’m remembering that movie right.

Bare skin touched putrid mud, his body pockmarked by the bits of dirt and mud thrown up by the horses. He jolted in place, thrown by the beat of their hooves.

Behind him, glass shattered and metal screeched. The dull thump of concrete blasting apart rattled off the buildings of Old Town. Car alarms rang out. With a too-familiar grumble and rumble, crescendoing to a great BOOM, an unseen building collapsed, sending a wave of dirt over Levi even from his far-flung location.

A few supers buzzed around overhead, brightly-colored like butterflies and just as useless. One or two carried their non-flying compatriots in their arms. Lying in the dirt, Levi’s eyes latched onto one of them, a man with a brutal face and red light glimmering in his eyes. The man looked at Old Town, then shook his head.

“Unless Alpha personally takes the field, Old Town cannot be saved. We hold the line at Central City.” He gestured, and the supers fell in behind him. They flew off toward Central City, leaving Old Town behind.

Levi watched them go, his eyes burning. He lifted his lip in derision. “You didn’t even try, you piece of shit. I warned you, and you did nothing. One Outbreak, and you immediately gave up. Guarding the Gate? Bullshit. You didn’t do a single thing. Fuck off. Fuck off.

“I’ll be back for you. I will. Sooner or later…”

A hoof loomed in his vision. Levi tensed.

[You lost a life!]

[Lives remaining: -17252]

DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium | Ability Points non-degraded | status GOOD

Press X to reallocate your ability points.

Levi jerked back to life. Instantly, he rolled into a three-point crouch, gripping his backpack in his free arm. He leaped up and ran with all his might, still too slow to keep up with the raging horse beasts.

An enraged snort sounded from behind him. Levi plunged his hand into the bag, fishing for a dagger. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of white teeth, swooping to take a chunk out of his side.

His hand closed around a familiar hilt. Leaping to the side, Levi slammed into the side of the next horse over, bounced off its flank, and rebounded toward the biting horse.

The horse lifted its muzzle to greet him. Razor teeth glittered in the sun, serrated like a shark’s, rows and rows of them vanishing down the horse’s snout.

Yanking the knife out of the backpack, Levi slashed the horse’s nose. Flesh severed under his blade, and red-hot blood spurted out.

Screaming in pain, the horse yanked its head back, hooves stumbling beneath it.

Levi chased after it. He launched himself into the air, throwing himself at the horse’s neck. Latching on with all four limbs, the backpack dangling from one elbow, he sunk the knife deep into the horse beast’s flesh to anchor himself.

The horse screeched and bucked, throwing its rear hooves high. Levi clung on for dear life, barely gripping onto the horse as it fought to shake him free with all its considerable might. Sweaty muscles heaved beneath him, the skin twitching as if he was nothing but a fly.

“You aren’t getting rid of me that easy,” Levi grunted.

The horse flung itself to the side, charging toward the next beast over. Levi glanced over his shoulder in time to see a wall of horseflesh hurtling his way. Pulling on the dagger, which elicited a mad pained cry from the horse monster, he yanked himself up onto its back. Seconds before the beasts struck one another, he curled his legs up. Two titans clashed, but not a single bug was squashed.

Levi pulled his dagger out of the monster and grabbed ahold of its mane instead. As the horse pushed away from its fellow beast, he straddled it. His thighs were barely wide enough to grip the elephantine horse, but he clung on as best he could. The hairs flinched and twisted at his touch, swaying with a life of their own, then quickly bound around his hand to trap him in place. He laughed and held on tighter, not afraid in the least. “That’s right. Thank you, thank you. It’s easier to hold on if you help me!”

Tired, the horse gave up on bucking for a moment. As it ran alongside its fellows, Levi turned back.

The Gate gaped open, easily wide enough to drive two semi-trucks through, shoulder to shoulder, and just as wide. Flickering white lights played across the sky, a typical sign of an Outbreak. Spotlight-bright beams pierced through the sky, shooting directly out from the Gate. Monsters poured through the pale screen of light, thousands and thousands of the horse-monsters, mixed with a few stray darting, dangerous-looking lizards and flying creatures moving too fast for Levi to get a clear look at.

A distinct crack dug into the right side of the Gate wall. It shot through the blue sky, about five feet tall and a foot wide. Levi snorted under his breath. “I don’t know what happened here, but I’m guessing it wasn’t just a precog’s prediction.”

He paused. Brows furrowing, he looked over his shoulder, at the spot where he’d woken up. “For that matter, where’s Fira?”

The horses charged on, with no answers for him.

“Didn’t see another body next to me. She’s probably alive.” He shrugged to himself. “Got bigger problems right now.”

Old Town loomed, the horses racing toward its decrepit buildings with no sign of slowing. Lifting up to a crouch on the horse’s back, he slung the backpack over his shoulders and clutched the dagger tight in one hand, holding onto the horse’s mane with the other. Horse beasts churned against one another as they funneled into Old Town’s main street. A ragged line of hunters stood at the top of the buildings, taking potshots at the horses from either side of the chokepoint. Guns, bows, beams of light, and the occasional chunk of concrete ripped from the pillars of the abandoned building on the left hand side rained down on the horses.

Levi waved his free hand up at the hunters. “Don’t shoot! I’m innocent!”

One of the hunters on the left startled. She looked around, shouting at all the other hunters. The man hefting chunks of concrete pumped as if to throw, then caught himself at the last second.

From the right, a bolt whistled toward him. Levi ducked, and it whirred through his hair, close enough he felt the wind against his scalp. Flipping the dagger around in his hand, he flipped off the hunters to the right. “Fuckers!”

The girl in black with the fang mark on her chest glared down at him. She hefted a crossbow and methodically slotted another bolt into place.

He twisted his lips. “Trying to take out the competition? Ya piece of shit. Go back to being a dark hero, or whatever bullshit you’re pulling.”

They rushed through the chokepoint and out the other side. Another crossbow bolt shot after him, but it landed in the back of a beast behind him, well shy of its target.

Monster flesh churned beneath him as the horse beast ran on. The other beasts pressed close, creating a wall of muscle jostling against one another between the tight confines of the buildings. There wasn’t even room for the horse under Levi to buck him off.

Shit. At this rate, we’ll end up in Central City proper before these monsters run out of steam.

Levi’s eyes widened. An evil grin spread across his face. Central City proper, huh? I wonder… can those supers still ignore this Outbreak if it reaches Alpha’s precious Central City?

If you can’t defeat it yourself, make it someone else’s problem!

Jumping up, Levi slapped the horse beast’s rear. “Giddyap! We’re going all the way to Central City!”